Thinking big...growing small

Dear friends it's been a while since I've been in the blogosphere. My business trip to India was the first real test for my New Year's resolutions. Could I stay on a reasonable workout schedule and not have the biryani overtake my nutrition goals?

Photo courtesy of Bruce Leroy

So some ground rules up front...This blog is not about a weight-loss journey, internet parking lot for unsolicited health and nutrition advice, or haven for before/after pictures with inspirational sayings. I will, however, use this platform to tell my stories and share a few laughs about the process of trying to navigate this life. That being said, I'm trying to lose weight. You see, I've always been heavy and even when I lost 140 lbs before (at the age 19/20), I still felt morbidly obese.

Over the past 5 years, I have slowly been chipping away at pounds gained by age and inactivity. My (unscientific) approach has been to make modifications that I felt I could live with in the long term as this is a marathon and not a sprint. In 2015, I really made a commitment to do something I call mindful eating--being aware of certain choices and make trade-offs/modifications where necessary. Yeah, I know some people call that normal eating, but for me it's a lifestyle change. Then a story on NPR really piqued my interest.

The 5:2 diet or intermittent fasting is not a new idea. It involves 2 days of caloric restriction with 5 days of "normal" eating. The article states "It sounds tough. But here's the easy part: The other five days of the week you forget about dieting and return to your normal pattern of eating." Easy is not the word I would use to describe the 5:2. It's hard and takes discipline. I usually do Monday/Wednesday as my fast days and after that first Monday I was out of my mind. The crazy thing is that I wasn't crazy hungry the next day and I really found myself more mindful about portions and the composition of my meals.

mmm...pudding

I'm no medical doctor, but I do have a PhD in cell biology, Google-ology, and PubMedery; so, I took to the internet to find out more. I've read numerous journal articles, blogs and other forums and most interesting and personally relevant aspect is the potential impact on metabolic markers and insulin sensitivity. But the proof of the pudding is in the taste and after a month I can say that I've lost 12 lbs!

Mole and Chole

I suppose I should say that if I can you do it, you can do it. Well, I hate that line and I say if I can do it, I did it. Losing weight is hard and is not one size fits all. However, recent studies show that it may take a village (Thanks, Angelly!). Thank you for taking the time to listen/read my story. Now back to your regularly scheduled BnB (I'm going to make that a thing) delights.